Everyone starts somewhere, and almost all magicians remember their first great magic book. There are thousands of magic blogs, magic shops, and magic books to dive into and learn from. But finding that book can be hard–there are literally thousands of options, and all of them promise miracles.
So, we’ve sorted through the noise to deliver five can’t-fail magic books. If you need a place to start, you can’t go wrong with any of these:
Magic: The Complete Course by Joshua Jay
This more modern book was gifted to me when I was about eight, and I read the entire thing. While there is some original material in the book, Josh mostly repackages magic classics like out of this world and ashes on the arm.
The book is conveniently categorized into card, restaurant, impromptu, office magic, and other sections, making it easy to flip through. There’s also suggested setlists at the end using the tricks in the book. If you make the effort to learn the routines, you’ll have solid material to put together a small performance. Because the book was published in 2008, it comes with a DVD rather than a download. If you have a DVD player, you’ll get to see 35+ effects both performed and taught.
